by Dia Cole
My laugh was edged in hysteria. “Hell no.” Although bite checks were standard protocol for anyone coming into the safe house, we weren’t home.
“It’s not a request. Take your clothes off.”
Panic clawed at me. If he saw the bite it would be over. And I had more than my own life to think about. If I died, Reed would be on his own. There was no doubt in my mind that without the protection of the soldiers he’d die.
“You can’t search me. Females do female body checks. Those are your own rules.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized what a bad idea they were. Darcy would show no mercy if she found the bite.
She’ll probably relish killing me.
Dominic wasn’t dissuaded. “I make the rules so I can break them.” His jaw tightened. “Take your clothes off or I’ll take them off for you.”
His words hung in the charged air between us.
In the mirror, my gaze skated to the door behind him.
Maybe I can dart around him and—
Dominic stepped closer, invading my personal space with his body heat. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
Even if I was at full strength, there was no way I could take on Dominic. I opened my mouth to argue. Then closed it.
I was the headliner at a strip club. If anyone can get out of this situation, it’s me.
Taking a deep breath, I channeled my seductive alter ego.
I looked up at his reflection through lowered lashes. “Maybe I like the hard way.”
Dominic’s gaze clashed with mine in the mirror. He swallowed. “Don’t tempt me.”
Oh, but that is exactly what I’m going to do.
Keeping my back to him, I motioned to the sports bra. “Did you want me to take this off?” I slowly brushed my palms over my nipples, as if by accident.
Dominic’s breathing hitched. Then he shook his head, as if remembering the rules. “No, I’ll just look over your skin.” He stepped closer and then, with the precision of a dermatologist, looked at every bit of exposed skin. He roughly pulled my head from side to side to examine my neck. He even lifted each arm to look at the skin of my triceps.
I sucked in my breath when he came to my stomach. “There’s no bite there.”
Not dissuaded, he swept aside the jeweled tassel of my belly button ring revealing the two-inch scar beneath.
With stage makeup, the scar was barely discernible. But without it, the pink line was stark against my skin.
“How did you get this?”
Purposefully misunderstanding, I fingered the sparkling red jewel in the middle of the ring. “My friend Cami dared me to.”
Thinking of my bold and daring best friend made me smile. Then I remembered that she was currently a zombie thrashing underneath my television where I’d left her months ago.
Cami. Tears stung my eyes.
Can’t think of her now.
Forcing myself to focus on Dominic, I licked my lips. “I never turn down a dare. Do you like it?”
He blinked. “I mean your scar.”
“An old bike accident,” I said, the lie coming easily to my lips.
“I know a scar from a knife when I see one,” he said.
I pressed my lips together. I wasn’t about to talk about how I got that scar with anyone.
His eyes narrowed. “Now take off your pants.”
I lifted the bottom of the sports bra, exposing the bottom of my breasts. “Shouldn’t I take this off too? I could’ve been scratched by a Biter or something?”
“That’s not neccesar—”
He broke off when I slipped the bra and my dog tags over my head.
Playing the shy card, I held the soft material in front of me for a second. Then I let it drop into the sink. The dog tags made a faint clink as they hit the porcelain.
“Oh, Christ.” His gaze locked on to my nipples.
“You should check them close up.” I caressed the valley between them, watching his reaction in the mirror. Even after losing weight these past few months, I still had a decent rack. Not the natural double Ds that had once mesmerized rooms full of men, but they looked as though they were doing the trick with Dominic.
He came up behind me. So close his cinnamon breath tickled my hair. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but stop it.” His hand clamped around my hip.
I trembled at the sensation of his calloused fingers on my skin. A bolt of heat spiraled out from the contact between us. It was impossible to breathe.
“You’re off-limits to me.” The heat in his gaze evaporated as the all-business Dominic took over. He snatched his hand away and took a step back. “Take off your pants so I can finish the check.”
Crap. This isn’t working.
Anxiety had me kicking off my shoes and sliding the yoga pants down much too fast. I had to brace my free hand on the sink to keep the weight off my bad leg as I kicked them free. I was left in the black thong and the bandage.
His eyes zeroed right in on the bandage.
Shit.
I knew he was just seconds from ordering me to unravel it, and then I’d be exposed. For a second, I thought about just confessing the bite to Dominic.
Rule number two, all infected must die.
I couldn’t kid myself. If Dominic found out about the bite, I’d become a stain on the wall. I had to distract him.
Playing my stripper role, I dropped my hands to my hips and rasped, “Do you want to kiss me again?”
His gaze fixed on my bare breasts and his hands curled into fists. “Lee.” The word was both a warning and a promise.
“I want to kiss you.” My voice was husky with equal parts anticipation and trepidation.
“That isn’t going to happen.” He sounded like he was being strangled.
My heartbeat thrashed in my ears.
Am I coming on too strong? Not strong enough? I can’t screw this up. Time to go for broke.
I finger the waistband of the thong. “I really should take these off too.”
Making no move to stop me, his gaze hungrily followed my movements as I shimmied the underwear down my legs.
Feeling unexpectedly vulnerable and exposed, I fought to keep from covering myself.
Get a grip. I was a stripper for Christ’s sake.
Remembering my purpose, I put my hands on my hips and thrust out my chest. “Like what you see?”
In the mirror, I watched his gaze travel up and down my body with the intensity of a starving animal getting its first glimpse of food. It was both incredibly sexy and frightening.
With feral growl, he closed the distance between us.
I swallowed hard.
Be careful what you wish for.
7
His scent, cinnamon and raw male, washed over me. “You’re playing with fire.” He pressed his chest flush against my naked back. The hard, thick proof of his erection brushed against my hip.
He took the bait.
Relief had me releasing the breath I’d held. The rows of knives in his vest dug into my spine. Realizing that the vial was only inches way, I arched against him. “Maybe I like the heat.”
His eyes were heavy-lidded. His breath sawed in and out.
It was awkward, but I reached a hand behind me and ran it across his chest. The cotton of his shirt was soft against my fingertips.
He groaned against my earlobe sending goose bumps down my arm.
The fabric of his vest teased my fingertips. Realizing I couldn’t get to the vial from that angle, I tried to turn around.
His body pinned mine against the sink, preventing me from moving. “Tell me to stop.” His hands slid up across my rib cage and brushed the undersides of my breasts. “Tell me you don’t want this.”
The shock of his warm palm against my skin sent a jolt of pleasure and alarm through me.
This isn’t the club. There were no bouncers here to stop things before they went too far.
I swallowed hard.
His eyes were so dark they lo
oked otherworldly in the halo of the flashlight. He looked like he was fighting an internal battle.
I can’t let him change his mind.
I pressed back against him. My wet hair dampened his vest, as my butt rubbed against him through the fabric of his pants.
“Oh, Christ,” he groaned again. Then he moved his hands.
My insides quaked as he palmed my breasts. He lifted each one, almost as if he was weighing them. My legs trembled. My breath came in pants.
Whoa. Keep it together.
Desire thickened my blood as he brushed a finger against one nipple, then the other. The fog of desire threatened to pull me under. Summoning what little synaptic firepower I had left, I tried again to turn around. One of his hands slipped down to grip my hip, holding me firmly in place.
“I’ve been wanting this for so long.” He rocked against me.
Need pooled inside me. Forgetting everything but the slow burn building, I pressed back against the thick erection raging inside his cargo pants.
God, this feels good.
He sucked in a breath and thrust against my palm. “Christ, Lee.”
Heat coiled low in my belly. The notion I held power over this dangerous man was intoxicating.
He jerked back out of my reach. “If we do this, we do it my way.” He kicked a knee between my legs and forced my thighs open.
Stunned, I grabbed for the edge of the sink. My muddled mind tried to make sense of what was happening. It felt like the predator had become the prey. “Easy there, G.I. Joe,” I said, nervously trying to straighten up.
Must regain control of the situation.
He pressed his hand down on the nape of my neck. “Don’t move. This is exactly where I want you. You want to please me, don’t you?”
Is that a trick question? “Y…yes.”
There was a dangerous glint in his eye. “That’s yes, sir.”
Catching on to his game, I said, “Yes, sir.”
“Good,” he crooned in my ear. “If you’re a good girl and do what I tell you to do, I’ll make you come harder than you ever thought possible.”
Oh, God. My nipples hardened. “What if I’m a bad girl?”
His grip tightened. “Bad girls get punished.”
I trembled.
How will he punish me?
His words shouldn’t have excited me, but they did. His dominance triggered something dark and needy inside me.
His other hand moved down my fluttering stomach.
My knees quivered and I pressed my fingers against the porcelain basin of the sink.
He paused. As if to see if I’d stop him.
I tensed. Never before had I let things get this far. I knew I should stop him, but the need growing inside me clamored for more. More warmth. More touching. More Dominic.
His hand dipped down, down.
Oh, God.
He touched me. There.
“Christ.” His broad fingers found the exquisitely sensitive flesh between my legs. “You’re so wet.”
I couldn’t help moaning loudly as he stroked me. He was slow and gentle. But I didn’t want slow and gentle. I bucked against his fingers.
The hand gripping my hip tightened. “Not so fast,” he rasped into my ear.
My entire body shook. “I need… please.” Never had I begged like this. But I ached for his touch. My whole life I’d gone without this. I couldn’t go one minute more.
He must’ve seen the desperation in my eyes, because his fingers moved again. This time, rougher and faster. The friction sent me coiling tighter and tighter. White lightning sparked with every pass of his hand. My heartbeat thundered in my ears. My back bowed against his chest.
His breath was hot against the shell of my ear. “Don’t close your eyes. Look at me.”
My eyes snapped open and my gaze clashed with his in the mirror.
“Look at how beautiful you are,” he said, sliding his fingers through the dark curls between my legs. They glistened with the evidence of my need.
I gasped, writhing helplessly under the erotic onslaught. Watching him watch me in the mirror made my blood burn even hotter. I barely recognized myself. My lips were swollen, my face flushed, my pupils blown.
His eyes blazed with emotion. His muscles strained as though he was barely keeping himself in check. “You’ll come only when I say you can come. Understand?”
Can I control it? I’ve never been touched like this before.
I simply nodded, unable to form words. I didn’t recognize this wanton creature I’d become.
He nipped my neck with his teeth. “The correct answer is yes, sir.”
I licked my lips. The realization that I was giving myself over to him should have scared me. Instead it excited me even more. “Yes, sir.”
He exhaled a shaky breath. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted this. Wanted you.”
“I’ve wanted you too,” I confessed. My thighs shook uncontrollably as pressure built between my legs. Only my hands clutching the sink and his hand between my legs kept me upright.
His mouth was on my pulse, tasting and nipping my neck. “You smell so good. I can’t wait to taste you.”
The thought of his lips on me made me shake. “Oh, God. Oh, God,” I chanted, staring into the reflection of his raw, hungry eyes in the mirror. Like a teakettle close to boiling, the pressure inside me grew and grew.
“Don’t you dare come,” he rumbled in my ear. “I’ll punish you if you do.” He brought his hand down hard on my ass.
The stinging pain only made me hotter. I moved against his palm desperate to ease the mounting tension between my legs. “Please, Dominic.”
His left hand cupped my breast. “Tell me you’ll do anything I say.”
The rebel in me tried to surface.
I’m no man’s slave.
“No.”
The hand between my legs froze.
A low keening noise escaped my lips.
He rolled my nipple between his fingers. “Say it.”
I shook my head.
He pinched my nipple.
A hiss escaped my lips. I’d never know the pleasure-pain sensation was such an aphrodisiac. It was as though Dominic knew more about my body than I did. My nipples grew impossibly tight, begging for more of his attention.
“Please,” I said again.
Dominic turned his palm so it ground against my clit. “Say what I want to hear and I’ll make you come so hard you’ll see stars. Then I’m going to slide those gorgeous legs around my shoulders and suck you until you come again.”
I trembled at the mental image of his head between my legs. There was no resisting his dark promise. “I’ll do whatever you want, sir.”
“Good girl. You can come now.” He flicked his thumb across my clit.
Biting back a scream, I detonated in the most powerful orgasm of my life. Shock waves of intense pleasure ripped through me. One after another. My hips bucked against his hand and my mouth fell open in an O as I shuddered around his fingers.
Wow.
My bones seemed to liquefy and I struggled to stay standing.
Dominic flashed me a wicked smile. “I can’t wait to taste you.”
His words sent a bolt of lust zinging through me.
He lifted the curtain of my damp hair to the side of my neck and whispered in my ear, “Time for round two.”
Arousal thrummed through my body. The man hadn’t even taken off a stitch of clothing, and already he’d made me feel what no man had before. My breath came in jagged pants.
I’ve never allowed any man to do this. Why Dominic?
“Turn around.” His gruff voice wrapped around me like raw silk.
Filled with nervous anticipation, I complied.
He held my gaze as he slowly knelt on one knee in front of me. “Get on the sink,” he ordered.
Trembling, I slid up onto the edge of the sink. It felt cool against my skin.
He leaned in and nibbled my thigh. “Spread your legs.”<
br />
Goose pimples broke out on my flesh.
Another first.
I froze. I never thought I’d ever make myself so vulnerable to another person.
What’s happening to me?
I must’ve hesitated too long. “Lee,” Dominic said in a warning tone. “Do you want me to punish you?”
“No, sir.” I slowly moved my thighs apart exposing the most intimate parts of my body to his possessive gaze. In that moment, it felt like I was opening every part of myself to him.
My flesh.
My heart.
My soul.
He pushed my knees even wider apart. “So beautiful.”
The sweet and musky scent of my desire filled the air.
My face warmed.
Before I could try to close my legs again, he’d lifted them over his shoulder. The movement brought me flush to his mouth. His hot breath fanned my core.
The mind-blowing sensation had me writhing in anticipation. I curled my hands into fists to keep from dragging his head forward.
God only knows how he will punish me for that.
He flicked his tongue out, barely touching my flesh.
The teasing move wrung a soft cry from my lips.
“Don’t make a sound,” he ordered.
My head fell back. “Yes, sir.” Nothing mattered in that moment. Not the cold mirror against my back. Not the faucet digging into my hip. Only his lips closing in on my heated flesh.
The door shook with a loud knock.
“Sarge, are you in there?”
8
“It’s Corporal Ross. Don’t move,” Dominic said in a hushed voice. He pushed my knees together gently as he stood up.
It took a moment for his words to penetrate the haze of desire. “What?”
“Shh.” He strode over to the door and opened it a crack.
Panic drowned out the clambering of my hormones. Not wanting to be caught naked, I slid off the sink, snatched up my clothes, and ducked behind the curtain.
Dressing as quickly as I could with legs of Jell-O, I backed into the shelves.
Hopefully, Darcy didn’t catch a glimpse of me.
After our earlier conversation, I could only imagine how thrilled she’d be to see Dominic and me going at it again. I leaned forward trying to hear their hushed conversation.